NEA President comments on bipartisan BRIDGE Act

WASHINGTON - December 12, 2016 -

Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina introduced the BRIDGE Act, a bipartisan bill to extend three years of protection of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients and DACA-eligible DREAMERS, people who came to the United States as children. The bill also is cosponsored by Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), and Jeff Flake (R-AZ).

The following statement can be attributed to NEA President Lily Eskelsen García:

“The BRIDGE Act represents our values and rich tradition of welcoming and embracing aspiring Americans who are working hard every day to make life better for themselves and their families.
“We stand in support of commonsense policies that allow our students to learn and contribute without fear in our classrooms, schools, and communities. DACA works to unleash the tremendous potential immigrant students bring. Our nation is benefiting from their hard work, ingenuity and achievements.

“We agree with the growing chorus of voices across the country, which includes mayors, college presidents, and leaders: DACA is morally and politically right. The BRIDGE Act’s bi-partisan support indicates that there is a commitment from both sides of the aisle to provide our young people with the opportunity to contribute and thrive.

“We commend Senators Richard Durbin and Lindsey Graham for doubling-down on their commitment to DACA recipients and to our DREAMERS. We urge the incoming Trump administration and the new Congress to capitalize on the bipartisan nature of the proposal and reach across the aisle to do not only what is just and necessary but right for our students and their families. While we welcome this short-term fix, we renew our call to Congress to fight for family unity and to fix our current immigration system.”

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The National Education Association is the nation’s largest professional employee organization, representing more than 3 million elementary and secondary teachers, higher education faculty, education support professionals, school administrators, retired educators and students preparing to become teachers. Learn more at www.nea.org.

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